Effects of a Disease Self-Management Program on Quality of Life and Related Factors among Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (2nd and 3rd Year)

Effects of a Disease Self-Management Program on Quality of Life and Related Factors among Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (2nd and 3rd year) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a widespread disorder among middle-aged and elderly persons, which is chronic and not fully reversible. COPD has the effects on patients’ physical and psychosocial well-being. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an effective non-pharmacological therapy, which can facilitate symptom control and reduce the number of COPD exacerbations. However, not all patients with COPD were encouraged to undertake PR by their physicians. Furthermore, accessibility issues such as the remote location of a hospital, travel time to hospital, and encountering traffic problems are considerable barriers to deliver hospital-based PR successfully. Self-management is a key skill for patients to manage their disease. Therefore, the major purpose of this 3-year study (2nd and 3rd year) is to explore the long-term effect of disease self-management program on social support, disease knowledge, self-efficacy, self-management behavior, quality of life, and emergency visit and hospitalization. A randomized, two-group pretest-posttest study design will be utilized. A total of 100 participants will be recruited in a medical center in Northern Taiwan, and they will be randomly divided into the experimental and control groups. Each participant will be assessed four times: prior self-management program beginning, and at 4 months, 8 months and 12 months after pretest. The experimental group will receive not only usual care but also a special self-management program of COPD. The control group will receive usual care and a booklet of disease self-management of COPD. The self-administrated questionnaires include scales of social support, disease knowledge, self-efficacy, self-management behavior, and EQ-5D. The patient-centered disease self-management program has been developed for patients with COPD to enhance their self-management abilities. First year study was conducted by the PI from November 2014 to now. A total of 23 patients with COPD were recruited, and they were randomly divided into the experimental and control groups. Self-management is an imperative skill for patients with COPD. The results of this study will provide health care professionals to improve physiological and psychological well-being of patients with COPD.

Project ID:PC10507-0277
External Project ID:MOST105-2314-B182-039